One Two Three
by The Sacred and Profane
Summary: Two people dance through life. ReTi oneshot for SeungSeiRan.


One Two Three

AN: I own nothing in this story. This is for SeungSeiRan so enjoy! Please R&R.

_One_

Tifa made a diagonal motion with the paint roller, her body too far at an angle to maintain balance. She would have crashed to the ground and most likely injured something if a hand hadn't wrapped around her waist and halted her descent.

Turning to glance at the man who had caught her, she flashed him a grateful smile.

"Thanks Reno." The Turk nodded and smirked.

"Well I wouldn't want my favorite barmaid to end up hurt. You're the only one who knows how to make a good Cosmo Canyon Sunset," he said, a teasing tone in his voice.

He had offered to help Tifa repaint some of the walls at Seventh Heaven and Tifa was grateful for the aid.

"Is that the only reason?" Tifa asked, noticing his face had gone a shade redder as he held onto her.

"Do you want it to be?" Reno countered, smirking once more as her cheeks flushed. Tifa decided to get out of his embrace then and attempted to move to his right, Reno moving to the left and still holding onto her. "Are you a good dancer Tifa?"

Before Tifa could respond, the sound of two pairs of feet came to their ears and two adolescents burst into the room.

"Tifa, we're here!" Marlene yelled.

"Yeah, so what do we paint first?" Denzel asked.

Tifa broke apart from Reno then and turned towards the kids, grins on both their faces as they looked from her to Reno.

"Let's start on this wall over here," Tifa said, ushering them towards an unpainted wall.

But at the back of her mind, she wondered if she wanted to be more to Reno than just a friend.

Two hours later, an exhausted red head, brunette, and two kids slumped to the ground. Paint covered their bodies, courtesy of Reno "accidentally" brushing green paint against Tifa's arm. This escalated into an all out paint war.

"That was fun," Tifa murmured, turning to look at Reno as she lay on her back.

"Yeah, it was..." Reno replied.

"Reno...would you like to....go out sometime?" Tifa asked, blushing fiercely as she asked.

Both the kids giggled at that and Tifa blushed even more. Reno reached out a hand and brushed a strand of hair from out of her eyes.

"Sounds wonderful," he said.

It was the first step in the dance of their lives together.

_Two_

Tifa walked gracefully out on the wooden dance floor, her wedding dress contrasting sharply with her husband's black tuxedo. He gave a smooth bow and held out a hand to her.

"Care for a dance Mrs. Lockhart?" Tifa gave Reno her rendition of his famous smirk and took his hand.

"I'd love to Mr. Lockhart. Just don't step on my toes like you did during our first date," she teased. Reno drew her closer and started a waltz, his moves graceful.

"I've had plenty of practice since then."

Tifa just laughed, still giddy with joy at the fact that she was finally married.

So the couple shared the first dance, Reno not stepping on her toes once and when they finished the guests clapped loudly. Reno felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned around to face his best friend.

"Mind if I dance with the bride?" Rude asked. Reno stepped aside, getting tapped once again on the shoulder a moment later.

"Hey Turkey, let's cut a rug!" Yuffie said as Reno turned around. And before he could agree, she had grabbed him and started dancing for all she was worth, Reno looking terrified.

Meanwhile, Tifa gave Rude a pleased smile as he dipped her.

"You dance really well Rude, I'm surprised."

"Who do you think helped Reno practice?" Rude responded. The image this formed in Tifa's mind made her burst into a fit of giggles and Rude gave a slight smile. "My feet still hurt from those sessions."

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that but you really shaped him to be a great dancer."

"Just take care of him, okay? He's not as strong as he likes to think," Rude stated. Tifa nodded.

"I will, don't worry."

Yuffie drew Reno close and motioned towards Tifa.

"If I ever hear that you've made her cry I'm going to stuff you full of throwing stars, got it?" Yuffie threatened in a sickly sweet tone.

"Whatever you say princess," Reno replied. Yuffie patted his cheek then and grinned.

"I'm glad we understand each other." Reno looked behind her then and his eyes widened.

"Is that Materia I see?" Yuffie whirled around and dashed off, eyes roving every which way to find the glowing orb. Reno chuckled as he watched her go and was about to return to his wife when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw Marlene, now almost seventeen.

"Have another dance for me?" Reno smiled and nodded, looking back at Tifa who was now dancing with Denzel.

This second step had taken awhile longer to arrive at but as he watched his newlywed wife dance, it was more than worth the wait.

_Three_

Reno arrived home from work ready to fall into a dreamless nap but all thoughts of rest flew from his head when he walked through the front door and was met with a truly adorable sight. Tifa and their six year old daughter Elly were dancing, the little red head twirling around as fast as she could. But she stopped when she saw her father and rushed up to him, leaping into his arms.

"Daddy, daddy, guess what?!" Elly exclaimed.

"What?" Reno said, tickling her a little bit.

"Mommy said I'm better at dancing than you!" Reno looked over at his wife as she came up to kiss him on the cheek.

"Is that true?" Tifa and Elly both nodded, the former with a grin on her face while the later beamed with happiness. "Well we'll just have to have a little competition, won't we?" Elly cheered and nodded, Reno letting her down.

So for the next thirty minutes, Reno danced along with Elly and Tifa, both parents agreeing that Elly was the best. Elly then ran to her room and returned a moment later with her plastic tiara. Placing the glittery thing on Reno's head, she jumped in his lap and hugged him tightly.

"You and Mommy both get a prize for coming in second," Elly proclaimed.

"How come he gets the tiara?" Tifa asked, beginning to cry crocodile tears. Elly just smiled and hugged her mother, kissing her sloppily on the cheek.

"Because you get a kiss, silly Mommy!" she responded, cuddling up closer to Tifa. "Daddy, do you like your- but Elly was silenced as she saw her father sleeping, snores escaping his lips.

"Daddy's a sleepyhead," Elly whispered to Tifa, who nodded. "I'm gonna be a sleepyhead too," Elly continued, getting up and grabbing her favorite blanket. Returning to the couch, she snuggled up to Reno's slumbering form, draping the blanket over her father, mother, and herself. "Mommy...are you a sleepyhead?" Elly asked as her eyes started to close.

"I sure am Elly," Tifa whispered. Elly tried to nod but soon she yawned and fell asleep. Tifa followed after several minutes of watching her precious family in their repose.

And as they slept, their heartbeats finished the third and final step.

One...Two...Three...


End file.
